September 19, 2015

Administrator’s
Note: Last month I had the pleasure of mentoring a young Chinese artist named
Mei Tou Chan during her first visit to the United States. I had prepared a
two-week seminar for her on the “relationship
between art theory and important painting practices of the late 19th
Century through mid-20th Century.” My goal for Mei Tou was to explore
some essential painters and, as my syllabus further states, “touch upon the
ideas that empowered their painting, supported by a selection of readings by
critics and art historians, along with commentary by the instructor, to further
educate the student’s theoretical knowledge and practical studio experience …”

Mei Tou truly exceeded my
expectations, completing over 20 paintings and drawings and delivering an
excellent essay on Jackson Pollock. I have posted the entire essay here for my
readers’ enjoyment and edification, along with the Letter of Recommendation
that I wrote for her and sent to her home back in Macau. Remember her name,
because Mei Tou Chan has the potential to become an extraordinary artist in the
near future.

UPDATE: I neglected to mention Mei Tou's age: she turned 17 during her visit.

_______________________________________________________

“Jackson Pollock and Action
Painting”

Jackson Pollock’s early
works are populist series of American rural life, but later he developed an
inimitable abstract style, which is different from Impressionism and realistic[s].
Rather than drawing actual objects such as buildings or fruits, abstract
painting is a kind of way to express feeling.

Pollock began to do away
with recognizable and traditional images, and to drip, splatter and pour paint
onto canvas which spread on the floor of his studio, and is called “action
painting.”

Under the law of gravity,
Pollock understood how the pigments are going to behave in different conditions.
When using liquid paints, the painting will have lots of dots, instead of hard
straight lines, which also looks like a mop of tangled hair. By dripping and
splashing, it helps to spread the paints all over the canvas.

Pollock used multimedia
elements in his painting such as different tools for painting and they often
have unexpected colours [sic] so as to create a cheerful harmony. Moreover, the
strength of dripping the paints by the arm can affect the result. The harder
dripping, the denser and thicker the painting gets.

As Pollock painted on the
floor, he feel [sic] nearer and comfortable as at home. He used all of the
floor and walked around to his work and paint, and be a part of the painting. He
wrote “I feel more at home, more at ease in a big area, having a canvas on the
floor, I feel nearer, more a part of a painting.”

Through the paintings, we
can see dancers’ movement or music rhythm. We can imagine the motion and
gesture of the painter. Moreover, we can feel how the painter’s feeling by the
dots and lines, whether he [is] sad or energetic in the painting, using the
colors to represent himself.

It
was my first time to have [sic] "action painting." I found fun and
freedom throughout this period when painting. There is no limitation and I
paint whatever I feel in my heart and brain.

After
painting yesterday, I deeply understand what Pollock means "When I am in
my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing...the painting has a life of its
own. I try to let it come through." Just follow the heart and do what it
wants, maybe the consequence is astounding. Don't care if the painting is
aesthetic.

It
was such a great experience to learn "action painting." Though it was
hard to understand abstract painting, people can feel the emotional expression
from the painting. I feel very glad and am very privileged to have a thoughtful
and patient, Professor Boyd to teach me things I have never learned before.

Mei
Tou Chan

August 21, 2015

_________________________________________________

September 8, 2015

To whom it may concern:

I am writing this Letter of
Recommendation for Mei Tou Chan who studied painting and art theory with me in
Washington, D.C. during her first visit to the U.S.A. in August 2015.

I am an artist, independent
curator and art educator with 19 years of experience teaching college-level
coursework in painting, drawing, design and art theory at many institutions,
including George Washington University, Corcoran College of Art and Design and
the University of Maryland in the metro D.C. area. Mei Tou is my wife’s
Grandniece, and after viewing her paintings last year while visiting family in
Macau, R.O.C., I was so impressed with the maturity of her paintings that we
invited her to come to the U.S. to study painting with me.

I knew Mei Tou was an
intelligent and talented young artist who had created a strong body of
representational work in landscape and still-life painting in classes she
undertook through her own diligence as an extra-curricular activity. Mei Tou’s
rendering ability and observational skills are remarkable for her age and will
undoubtedly continue to develop if she pursues Realist painting. My goal of the
two-week seminar that I designed for Mei Tou was to introduce her to
Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and the painting theories that evolved to
Modernism to show her that abstraction can be another way to reveal subjective
expression as an artist.

My seminar, Theories of Painting: From Impressionism to
Action Painting, was designed to teach Mei Tou about the relationships of
theory and practice in late 19th to mid-20th Century painting and the
significant painters of this period. Her studies included tours of the National
Gallery of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum and Baltimore Museum of Art,
accompanied by my lectures as we viewed paintings by Monet, Seurat, Van Gogh,
Matisse, Pollock and others. Mei Tou also was given reading assignments and
asked to apply what she learned in this seminar in two written essays on
painting theory and practice, and to create her own paintings in practical
studio assignments.

In my role as Mei Tou’s
mentor, I was delighted to discover that she has a genuine appreciation and
curiosity for fine art, art history and theory. I also observed how quickly Mei
Tou comprehended complex theories like “pointillism”
and “action painting.” Mei Tou’s
ability to communicate her thoughts effectively in writing was evidenced in her
written assignments, and her essay on Jackson Pollock was particularly
exceptional. She was also able to clearly express how her theory studies enhanced
her experience in the studio, and how those relationships helped her learn
about abstract painting. Her sensitivity and eloquence in conveying the
connection between the readings, our museum talks, and her studio time creating
abstractions were quite wonderful to read. Moreover, she exceeded my
expectations by producing eight paintings in three days of studio time during
her two-week seminar.

In my view, the paintings
that Mei Tou made and the essays she wrote are worthy efforts for one so young
and they hold the promise of great possibilities for a future career for her,
either in the arts, academia or art education. The verbal and written
communication skills that Mei Tou has exhibited in this seminar, combined with
her developing practice as a painter, would make her an excellent candidate for
further studies in college-level Fine Arts or an academic pursuit of her
choice, and she has my enthusiastic and unwavering support.

I am available for
correspondence via email or cellular at xxx.xxx.xxxx for additional information
or assistance on behalf of Mei Tou Chan.